Global handset vendors sing Indian tunes

NEW DELHI: As the world wakes up to the Indian opportunity that lies ahead in the telecom sector, more and more foreign handset manufacturers are setting their eyes on the Indian marketplace. In a recently concluded telecom exposition — Convergence India 2004, as many as three handset vendors were found to be looking up the India way when it comes to marketing their handsets.

Korea based Ezze Mobile Tech is quite upbeat about the way Indian telecom scenario is bracing up. "We find it very exiting, with the kind of population that India has, any big vendor would like to sell over here. There is so much of potential that a lot of vendors can co-exist," quipped department of overseas business management GM for Ezze, IS Sung.

Ezze is looking forward to launching 15 GSM models in the Indian space and is likely to start its operations by the end May 2004. The company is actively scouting for a distributor with service capabilities.

"Ideally, we are looking forward to get associated with a company having sound service capability and a big dealer network. We already have our operations in China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand. Indian presence will give us an opportunity to even go to other markets like Middle East and related areas," he added.

With manufacturing units in China and Korea, the company is already selling more than two million phones per year in Korea and is looking at a phased venture into the Indian marketplace.

Thinking on similar lines, China based Amoi Electronics is another vendor eyeing the Indian market for its products. The company in its endeavor to tap the Indian market has even gone a notch ahead and has already appointed its distributor — Banaras Technologies - for the Northern region in the country.

"We are looking forward to launch six GSM models in the Indian market within three months. We would be targeting the mid and high-end market segments in India, we are already number one in these segments in China and last year we sold close to 6 million handsets in the Chinese market," informed Mobile Phone dept. overseas division manager for Amoi Electronics Franc Huang.

As pricing continues to be a deciding factor for the Indian market, these handset manufacturers have taken enough precaution to put an affordable price tag on their products. While Korean Ezze handsets will be priced between Rs 3,500 to Rs 10,000, Chinese manufacturer Amoi is going to price its handsets between Rs 4,000 to Rs 15,000 for the Indian market.

Another entrant on the block is France-based Sagem SA. The French manufacturer is planning to launch five different models carrying price tag between Rs 3,999 to Rs 16,499 in the Indian sub-continent.

"India is an important market for us and we would like to launch five GSM models in India very soon. Worldwide, the company is looking forward to launching 20 new models for this year globally. As we establish our presence in the Indian market, we would be launching new models on a regular basis," confirmed Sagem SA mobile phone division international sales department sales director — Asia Pacific, Samy Redjeb.

Buoyed by a change in taxing policy, according to Indian Cellular Association (ICA), the current Indian handset market for the year 2004 stands at 16.9 million units and this figure is likely to touch the 63 million mark by the end of year 2007. It is needless to say that it is figures like this that are triggering the romance among the foreign handset vendors to venture into the Indian market.

When mobile handset vendors first set out to break into the Asian markets, they aimed for larger market segments, drumming up the unavailability of such players. But now those ambitions have been tempered by different players venturing into smaller market segments like the high-end segment and these new entrants are likely to have stiff competition from players like BenQ, DBTEL and Tel.Me.

CyberMedia News